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PDFIs the expulsion of pro-democracy NGOs from the United Arab Emirates the latest indicator that the Arab Spring is losing steam? Regimes are emboldened by Egypt’s prosecution of similar U.S.-based and indigenous civil society groups, analysts suggest, and are striving to reverse the democratic thrust of the region’s protest movements.
The U.A.E. recently closed down the German-based Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a Christian Democratic group that runs civic education programs, the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute, and the Abu Dhabi offshoot of the Gallup polling group.
“The momentum is shifting. The Arab regimes are emboldened,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. “They look at what Egypt did and are encouraged by it.”
The backlash is closing political space and stifling freedom of expression, The New York Times reports:
Belabbes Benkredda founded Dubai Debates just over a year ago, intending for it to be a platform for discussing the most important issues facing the Arab world today. Funded by groups such as KAS and Vital Voices, he held discussions on a range of topics, including the future of energy in the Gulf.
But today Mr. Benkredda has decided to indefinitely suspend Dubai Debates and turn his efforts to creating a sister organization called Munathara, the Arabic word for debate, in Tunis. A post-Arab Spring Tunisia has created a hospitable legal environment for nongovernmental organizations, one very different from that in the U.A.E. today, he said.
Mr. Benkredda said he had lined up another sponsor, Freedom House, another U.S.-based pro-democracy group. Munathara’s first event is planned for June 27 in Tunis. The topic is “Free Expression in the Arab World.”
NDI is one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy.
